PPP/C all ready for ‘fair and free’ elections

Dear Editor,
It is most wholesome to read that Prime Minister Brigadier (ret’d) Mark Phillips has met with the Carter Center team in Guyana for pre-election evaluation. This is a great promissory move with the portent that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic would again commit to ‘fair and free’ elections, and are not going to stymie transparency or independent external observers.
The news reported that the PM welcomed a delegation from the Carter Center, and discussed the center’s pre-election assessment mission in Guyana with an emphasis on the aims to evaluate the necessity of election observers ahead of the 2025 Regional and General Elections…reaffirming the Government of Guyana’s steadfast commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
As was evident in 2020, the PPP/C is all about openness to international electoral observer missions, and about maintaining transparent and fair electoral practices.
This takes me back to the horrors of 2020, when it was so obvious (and observed as well) that there was blatant collusion and collaboration between senior GECOM (Guyana Elections Commission) officials to divert votes to the APNU+AFC (A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change) instead of safeguarding and preserving the integrity of the electoral system.
Later, after the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the events of the 2020 General and Regional Elections, this was ratified, as it was conclusively established that there were shockingly brazen attempts by Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) Roxanne Myers, and Returning Officer (RO) Clairmont Mingo to derail and corrupt the statutorily prescribed procedure for the counting, ascertaining, and tabulation of votes of the March 2nd election, as well as the true declaration of the results of that election; and that they did so (as was stated by the CoI) “to put it in the unvarnished language of the ordinary man, to steal the (said) election.”
Editor, let me quote: “The (independent and transparent Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI)) Report found that Lowenfield blatantly made decisions and employed procedures in direct contradiction of the law and the will of the people. The findings revealed, too, that GECOM staffers ignored specific instructions from the court, used materials that were illegal and/or manipulated, and sided with APNU+AFC agents to berate observers whenever objections were raised”.
I recall the drama. It was ludicrous. Maybe there was the thought that APNU/AFC could have taken Guyana back to pre-Carter days leading up to 1992. In fact, in a 1980 report by Charles de Florimonte, “Observers charge Guyana election rigged”, it was clearly publicised that “An international team of observers found ‘massive’ evidence of widespread fraud in the Guyanese elections that were expected to strengthen the power of (then) incumbent President Forbes Burnham.
As per the team of observers, they noted, ‘We conclude that the worst fears expressed by the Guyanese people regarding the violations of the electoral process have been confirmed,’ said Lord Eric Avebury, the British head of the observer team. A helpless Dr. Cheddi Jagan, gracious even in the heist, as head of the opposition Peoples Progressive Party, said, ‘I am certain we would have won at least a simple majority had not the ‘army intervened again by seizing the ballot boxes.’
So, I am most glad, and I feel the joy of many that, in 2020, in utter desperation, the APNU/AFC Coalition, really a disguised PNC, could not repeat the act of stealing the ballot boxes, or even come up with fictitious figures.
As a pertinent footnote, I remind all that the triumvir of Keith Lowenfield, Roxanne Myers, and Clairmont Mingo are before the court. I also hope that the President would not call any 2025 election until the 2020 election cases are completed.
This vital visit from the Carter Center has precluded many negatives, as there were engagements with various stakeholders, including Opposition members (please note that), private sector representatives, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), and civil society organisations. This kind of comprehensive engagement has garnered great confidence in the pre-election landscape in Guyana. The reason is that the Carter Center will be instrumental (yet again) “in determining the need for international observers to monitor the upcoming 2025 elections, thereby contributing to the credibility and transparency of the electoral process in Guyana.”
Again, going back to the pre-1992 era, it was the norm for election rigging in favour of the then-ruling People’s National Congress. These were to ensure overwhelming majority triumphs to facilitate Forbes Burnham’s determination “to cling to power at all costs.”
Those days are gone. No more can there be certain “senior GECOM officials” abandoning all need for neutrality and impartiality, and demonstrating a bias for any party…”
I do warn that there are quite a few who are still with that mindset. Just this year, in February, Hamilton Green stepped up and stated, “I say we should keep rigging to save us from these devils” (meaning the PPP). What a Satan!

Sincerely,
Hargesh B Singh